Luton Town of England attacker, Elijah Adebayo came close to scoring for his side on more than one occasion in their English Championship clash with Rotherham United, but he agonisingly fell short and saw them settle or a draw at home.
Despite spirited efforts from Adebayo and his teammates, Rotherham kept their hopes of survival alive in England’s second-ter league, as they played out a goalless draw in their final game in hand against Luton on Tuesday.
In a frantic first half, Adebayo hit the post for the hosts, shortly before Millers goalkeeper Jamal Blackman pushed a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall corner onto the woodwork and Matt Crooks followed suit at the other end of the pitch.
Proceedings became increasingly tense after the restart and Crooks had the chance to win it late on when he headed Ryan Giles’ brilliant delivery from the left flank wide of the right-hand post, while Sonny Bradley had a goal chalked off in the dying seconds.
However, it wasn’t to be for Paul Warne’s men, who stay 22nd after playing their 11th game in 33 days, two points behind 21st-placed Derby. A point for Luton, meanwhile, means they have secured a top-half finish in the Championship for the first time in 15 years.
While it was remarkable in itself that the Millers were still in with a shout of survival despite an unforgiving recent fixture pile-up, a solitary win in their previous nine games meant an already arduous task was far from over.
The first half was both frantic and wide open in spells. Luton perhaps looked slightly more likely to peg their opponents back in the first half and almost did so after 21 minutes, when Adebayo waited for James Bree’s looping ball to drop before rifling a half-volley onto the post.
There was a nervous air about the place in the second half and openings came less frequently for both sides. Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu’s darting runs added a new dimension for the hosts, but both he and Adebayo were guilty of blazing shots over the bar.
Bradley then headed in from Dewsbury-Hall’s corner in the dying seconds, but referee David Webb ruled it out for a push in the area, despite replays suggesting the decision was questionable, ensuring the game ended goalless.
